Government nominates name for Petrobras that has already been rejected due to partisan activity

The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) made official this weekend the nomination of a name for the Petrobras board of directors that was already rejected last year due to partisan activity. Lawyer Renato Campos Galuppo was not accepted in 2023 due to his connection with the Citizenship party, which would go against the State Law that Lula has been trying to change since the beginning of the new term.

Galuppo’s appointment was formalized by Minister Alexandre Silveira, of Mines and Energy, who sent a letter to the president of the council, Pietro Sampaio Mendes. The vacancy to which he was appointed was opened with the resignation of Efrain Pereira da Cruz, who was number 2 in the department and dismissed just over a week ago.

According to government interlocutors, there is an expectation that Galuppo’s name will not be rejected again, and that he will continue in office after the ordinary general meeting scheduled for March, which will renew the committee’s members.

Late this Monday morning (22), Petrobras reported that Galuppo is already a member of the Safety, Environment and Health Committee of the Petrobras Board of Directors and “had his integrity report recently issued and analyzed by the People Committee, without any impediment to assuming a management position in the company”. The appointment, states the state-owned company, will be subject to “applicable governance procedures”.

Silveira expressed his intention to keep Mendes, Bruno Moretti, Jean Paul Prates (president of Petrobras) and Vitor Saback on the board, the latter awaiting official confirmation. The government will also send three names to form a triple list, following the model that led to the selection of Sérgio Rezende last year.

Specializing in electoral law, Galuppo faced objections due to his connection with Cidadania, but the government maintained that the ban was changed by the injunction of the retired minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Ricardo Lewandowski, who takes office as Minister of Justice and Public Security at the beginning of February.

This decision suspended part of the State Law that imposed a three-year quarantine for politicians or party leaders in state-owned companies.